not too good today. thanks for asking.

i'm not feeling well today. had a sore throat last night. my throat is my vulnerable spot. if i'm going to get sick, it will start there. so no gym today. but i have some work to do, and now that i've taken panadol i feel i can do some of it.

i'm starting some research with a lecturer at uni. he got a grant to get an assistant so he and i will be investigating identity in grade 6s. should be interesting.

i'm pissed off i missed an interview with an academic on the radio who spoke about the lebanon-israeli thing. apparently he was balanced and measured, and explained what is going down, and why. might check if it's been podcasted.

what do you think about podcasting? what have you listened to and have you ever done one yourself?

reading this morning in a section of the weekend paper about how the People are taking over the mass media, with things like blogging. there was some statistic about tv viewing falling to an all-time low in the states, and at the same time a figure was released about the number of myspace members. coincidence?

you'll be happy to know that r.kelly and his diabolical trapped in the closet is now receding from my every waking moment. what has helped this was a very disturbing dream last night, of which i can only recall woody allen and his enormous penis. i don't know anything about mr allen's appendage. is it large? i have no idea. but in my dream 'twas enormous, and exposed in a room of socialising chit-chatterers.

in the meantime i leave you with this. just to replace that image you now have in your head of woody's wood. sorry about that, but i like to share.



World watches as another onslaught shatters families
Carol Nader
July 18, 2006

MY GRANDMOTHER stared death in the face last year. Her heart became so weak that it almost stopped beating. She has been battling poor health for many years, has been in and out of intensive care, and can barely walk. But last weekend, she had no choice but to walk. With the frightening sound of bomb blasts nearby, her children dragged her 86-year-old frame from her bed, bundled her into a car, and fled their home in the Bekaa Valley.
My uncle has also been forced to desert his home. A few days ago, he closed his business in Sidon in the south of Lebanon, gathered his family and headed for the peace of the mountains.Another uncle lives in Saudi Arabia because he cannot find work in Lebanon. He has been in Beirut, visiting his family. Now he is stuck there. He is unable to return to work. He does not know how he will support his family while the bloody mess continues.
There are so many stories like this. And for thousands of Lebanese who have already lived through too many years of war — and who, with the war showing no signs of abating, are once again stocking up on supplies — the events of the past week are very much a case of "here we go again".
The events have conjured up memories of the way things used to be, back in the 1980s. Visiting Lebanon 20 years ago as a child, in the middle of the war, was a shocking experience. The sound of gunshots. The overwhelming poverty. Buildings blemished with bulletholes. The dangerous exercise of trying to get around the country. The electricity constantly cut off. Beggars who had lost limbs dragging their bodies along the floor.
Lebanese Australians are shattered that this tiny country that has already been through so much is under siege again. The civil war in Lebanon ended 15 years ago. It has taken since then for the country to lift itself up and start the slow, arduous process of rebuilding.
There have been so many setbacks. But there have been good signs in recent years: the withdrawal of Israeli troops in 2000, the withdrawal of Syrian troops and spies last year.A few days ago, there was reason for hope in Lebanon. At least people could walk the streets freely, without fear.
That hope has all but gone.
More than 100 Lebanese civilians have been killed. Israeli civilians caught in the middle of Israel's war with militant group Hezbollah are suffering too.
Civilians in northern Israel are, like the Lebanese, innocent victims in all this. They are paying the price for a war that civilians in neither country started, or want.
Meanwhile, the world watches, does nothing and waits for the situation to intensify, as it inevitably will.

from the age online today, http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/another-onslaught-shatters-families/2006/07/17/1152988472653.html


i wanted to put a photo here, but blogger is not letting me upload right now. so go here and see it for yourself. or if you have the age at home, just open it. front page.